Dubai, Abu Dhabi make it to Top 5 IMD Smart City Index
ABU DHABI, 6 days ago
The Middle Eastern cities have surged in the Smart City Index compiled by International Institute for Management Development (IMD) with Dubai and Abu Dhabi entered the top five for the first time while Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), Doha (Qatar) and Manama (Bahrain) have made it to the top 50 global ranking.
This is a huge marker of urban growth and sustainability in the Middle East. The Index is the most comprehensive of its kind, ranking 141 cities around the world, looking at their infrastructure and technology to see how it improves the lives of the people who live there.
This year’s ranking shows Zurich (Switzerland) retaining the top spot globally in this sixth edition of the annual report followed by Oslo (Norway) in second place. Geneva moves up to third place from sixth.
Dubai moves up to the fourth position from last year's 12th place, while Abu Dhabi advanced to the fifth position from 10th place, it stated.
According to IMD, Ankara (Turkey), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Cairo (Egypt), Seattle (US) and Stockholm (Sweden) have experienced decline in smartness over last three years.
Meanwhile Doha along with Riga (Latvia) and Zagreb (Croatia) as well as the Chinese cities of Chongqing and Hangzhou have experienced greater levels of smartness over last three years, it stated.
In its report, entitled The Housing Affordability Challenge: A Growing Concern in Smart Cities” IMD assesses six new cities this year - AlUla (Saudi Arabia), Astana (Kazakhstan), Caracas (Venezuela); Kuwait City (Kuwait), Manama (Bahrain) and San Juan (Puerto Rico) bringing the total to
146.
The Index, published by IMD’s World Competitiveness Center (WCC), is derived from 39 survey responses collected from residents representing various levels of society.
Answers to the question “Is finding housing with rent equal to or less than 30% of the average monthly salary a problem in your city?” shaped the direction of the report.
It elaborates on how higher tariffs on steel and potentially lumber –part of the aggressive trade stance adopted by the United States this year –are expected to increase development costs, putting further stress on an already-constrained housing supply.
Direct participants in the trade war will likely experience economic losses that could outweigh any benefits, the report says. Consequently, rising inflation could damage industries heavily reliant on imported materials –construction being one.
"While cities are engines of economic growth and attract significant talent, this very success often drives up living costs,” said Director of the WCC Arturo Bris.
“We observe a persistent gap between wage growth for many urban dwellers and the escalating price of housing, whether renting or buying.”
The IMD report pointed out that city dwellers’ ability to find affordable housing was on the decline worldwide, meaning prosperity isn't being shared inclusively.
This is greatly impacting the overall quality of life of a wide cross-section of the urban population, the 2025 IMD Smart City Index finds.
Factors like gentrification in diverse neighborhoods, a lack of affordable units being constructed, and speculative investment patterns are major factors behind the trend, the report finds. It also underlines that the crisis is more keenly felt in urban areas largely due to growing immigration influxes.
There are minimal shifts since last year’s ranking among the top 20 cities; notably Taipei City slid from 16th in 2024 to 23rd in 2025, and Ljubljana jumped from 32nd to 16th.
A unique feature of IMD’s report is that it avoids comparing two cities at very different stages of development; survey responses are rescaled according to how they rank in the Global Data Lab’s Subnational Human Development Index (SHDI).
The Chinese cities of Tianjin and Zhuhai did not meet the WCC’s robust data sample requirements and so were unable to be assessed this year.
The WCC defines a Smart City as one that strikes a good balance between its economic prowess (e.g., jobs and housing), applied technology, environmental concerns, and inclusiveness to facilitate its citizens’ quality of life.
Its next ranking will be the 2025 World Competitiveness Ranking, out on June 17.-TradeArabia News Service
